{"id":24818,"date":"2026-02-26T00:34:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T00:34:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/24818\/"},"modified":"2026-02-26T00:34:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T00:34:10","slug":"turkeys-education-minister-sues-168-signatories-of-secularism-manifesto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/24818\/","title":{"rendered":"Turkey\u2019s education minister sues 168 signatories of secularism manifesto"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Turkish Education Minister Yusuf Tekin has said he filed a lawsuit against 168 public figures who recently signed a\u00a0manifesto\u00a0titled \u201cWe Defend Secularism Together,\u201d escalating a dispute over secularism and religion in public life, Turkish Minute<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n

Speaking to reporters ahead of a ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) parliamentary group meeting on Wednesday, Tekin confirmed legal action against the signatories, who include writers, artists, academics, journalists, lawyers, educators and representatives of professional associations.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0manifesto<\/a>\u00a0was published on February 17, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Turkey\u2019s adoption of its civil code, and was opened for public signature online.<\/p>\n

It was signed by 168 prominent figures, including economist Korkut Boratav, historian Taner Timur, novelist Ay\u015fe Kulin, actor M\u00fcjde Ar and journalist Timur Soykan.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have filed a lawsuit,\u201d Tekin said. \u201cNo one in Turkey has a monopoly on interpreting the constitution. No one has the right to say, \u2018You will interpret the constitution as we wish, and those who do not are reactionary or a radical minority.\u2019 This is an insult.\u201d<\/p>\n

The manifesto claims that Turkey is facing what it describes as a \u201creactionary, pro-sharia siege\u201d and says that recent policies are undermining secular education, the secular legal order and secular public life.<\/p>\n

\u201cDefending secularism is not a crime. \u2026 We will not surrender to darkness,\u201d it adds.<\/p>\n

Tekin said he took the step to defend the rights of students and parents who participated in school-related Ramadan activities, although the manifesto did not make any reference to the Muslim holy month, which began to be observed on February 19 in Turkey.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will see who is reactionary and bigoted,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

It was not immediately clear under which specific allegations the lawsuit against the manifesto\u2019s signatories was filed or how the judicial process would proceed.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday President Recep Tayyip Erdo\u011fan weighed in on the contoversy, accusing the authors of the manifesto of repeating \u201ctheir worn-out song of \u2018secularism is under threat\u2019\u201d and accusing them of double standards.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are not disturbed when Christmas decorations are put up,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are not bothered when all kinds of questionable nonsense are staged under the name of New Year\u2019s or Halloween celebrations,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut whenever, on the doorstep of Ramadan, our children are to be taught the national and spiritual values of these lands, that is when they immediately become uncomfortable.\u201d<\/p>\n

The lawsuit comes amid controversy over a recent circular sent to schools regarding Ramadan, which the minister has defended as consistent with the constitution and existing laws.<\/p>\n

The circular instructed schools nationwide, from preschool to high school, to organize religious activities during the Muslim holy month, prompting criticism.<\/p>\n

Critics accuse the government of attempting to Islamize the education system and undermine the separation of religion and state.<\/p>\n

The dispute also comes amid longstanding tensions in Turkey over the role of religion in public life. Secularism became a constitutional principle in the early years of the republic, while successive governments have taken different approaches to the relationship between religion and the state.<\/p>\n

Erdo\u011fan\u2019s AKP, in power since 2002, has often argued that earlier state policies restricted religious conservatives, while critics say AKP-era policies expanded the role of religion in schools and public institutions.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Turkish Education Minister Yusuf Tekin has said he filed a lawsuit against 168 public figures who recently signed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":24819,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[83],"tags":[12625,16275,12627,16276,12628,314,12629,12630,131,132,12631,12632,155],"class_list":{"0":"post-24818","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-stockholm","8":"tag-ayse-kulin","9":"tag-education-minister-yusuf-tekin","10":"tag-korkut-boratav","11":"tag-manifesto","12":"tag-mujde-ar","13":"tag-president-recep-tayyip-erdogan","14":"tag-ramadan","15":"tag-secularism","16":"tag-stockholm","17":"tag-sweden","18":"tag-taner-timur","19":"tag-timur-soykan","20":"tag-turkey"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24818","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=24818"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24818\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/24819"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=24818"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=24818"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=24818"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}